Thursday, July 26
Wednesday, July 11
Memoirs of the Provo City power outage of July 10
July 10, 2012
11:16 PM
I was alone in the apartment when the power went out. As I headed towards the front door, I had only my dark
form in various mirrors to keep me company until I found Levi and Mollie
walking towards me on the second floor balcony. We survey the scene before us:
although it’s just as dark inside as it is outside, many have migrated outdoors
to the patio or the front lawn. Everyone seems to have been searching for candles. Flashlights.
Matches. Lost Roommates... The air is filled with the light from
cars and the previously thought useless strobe app on the iPad.
11:20 PM
Relieved to have found the security
of my friends, we chat casually about when the power might return until an
explosion in the mountains sounds through the valley. A few screams, laughs,
and cheers follow. They may be fireworks or something more sinister, but the
theories go flying anyway. Mollie concludes that this is one of three things. Maybe
five. For convenience, I have compiled a list:
--Zombie apocalypse (not likely)
--Terrorists (not likely)
--Alien experiments (statistically more possible than terrorists...but still not likely)
--Armageddon (Levi's idea)
--Transformers (robots in disguise)
11:32
PM
A few more have joined our gang at
this point: Riley, Kirsten, Craig, and that judgmental kid that frequently creeps by our
window to name a few. Hannah has returned from Smith’s as well. Together, we try
to figure out when chaos will likely ensue. We come up empty. There’s really no
way of telling with these kinds of things.
11:46 PM
Text
tones sound throughout the front lawn of the apartment complex; last minute
attempts of contacting loved ones becomes a priority as none of the phones seem
to have been able to charge adequately before the incident. About ten minutes ago, Hannah and Kirsten decided to go to their cars. They haven’t returned
yet.
11:50 PM
That pimped out golf cart keeps
driving past us, and I’m tempted to throw water balloons at them. Police lights
are also seen, but we hardly believe there’s much that they can do about this
situation.
11:59 PM
I
yell over the porch asking who is going to step up as leader. One girl scoffs
and asks what we would need a leader for in the first place. The rest of the
group agrees with her and carry on with their game. They've rejected my idea. Even though I feel like it’s my responsibility
to inform people about the possibilities of mass hysteria, I have never had the
heart of a true leader. I couldn’t handle a crisis like this. I suppose she and
the rest of them will figure it out soon enough.
12:03 AM
Riley,
not impressed, returns home. As he departs, he walks tall. I haven’t realized
how much of a friend he’s been to me in the past few weeks, and I fear that
this may be the last I’ll ever see of him.
12:17
AM
Hannah and Kirsten update us on the survivors at an adjacent
complex upon their return. It doesn’t sound good—people peeing off of roofs and setting the lawns
on fire… The insane have officially run rampant. It’s only a matter of time
before they begin looting our apartments. To relax, we sing songs with the guy
that’s playing guitar. This attempt to calm down becomes increasingly
difficult, especially with that person with the water gun shooting us down
every few minutes.
12:27
AM
It
seems as though Levi has stepped up to the plate; A leader in him has come forward. He takes inventory of our supplies,
namely the items required for molotov cocktails. Unfortunately, those are not a
legitimate possibility as we are still in need of a hose to siphon out the gas
from someone’s car. And of course, none of our cars actually have gas because we’re in
college and we’re poor.
12:35 AM
It’s been over an hour. Hope seems bleak, especially when Mollie makes a comment about all these
people reconnecting, until their limbs start disconnecting. (She was
particularly set on this being an experiment conducted by
aliens.)
12:37 AM
The power has come back on.
Everyone is returning to their apartments and picking up where they left
off. I, alone, remain outside, determined to finish these memoirs and to answer
the following: What did this reveal about humanity? My mind is exhausted and
I decide to mull this over later. Now, it’s time to get some shut-eye. It's been a long night.
The next morning--Conclusion
To be honest, I am still not definite
on what the power outage was supposed to tell me. Perhaps it was simply to
present to a part of the city the opportunity to let our vices go for one hour and
get some fresh air. Maybe it’s embarrassing that we need an excuse like this to
leave our air-conditioned, electricity-buzzing caves to interact with real
friends and sing Tenacious D and scare the ever living out of ourselves, but if
a reason is necessary… until the next power outage, my fellow tenants.
-rae
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